Waqf investment funds represent an innovative approach to sustainable finance, integrating Islamic investment principles with contemporary social and economic goals. The research explores how Waqf investment funds affect socio-economic factors in Saudi Arabia through their influence on personal income, healthcare systems, and education while analyzing financial sustainability. The study assessed primary socio-economic indicators through beneficiary survey data, expert interviews, and secondary sources. The study used chi-square tests, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and regression analysis to evaluate the long-term impact of the funds on social welfare and economic stability. The results highlight several significant achievements, the most important of which is that personal income benefited most from enhanced purchasing power. At the same time, healthcare outcomes improved significantly due to support for chronic disease treatments. Support for student housing and living services positively impacted the education sector by providing learning stability and access to educational opportunities. Financial sustainability reached its peak through improved financial security measures. The full potential of Waqf investment funds remains restricted because they face continuous issues with investment diversification, governance effectiveness, and entrepreneurial support. The results show that Waqf investment funds work as a welfare tool while also serving as a strategic tool for sustainable development in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This study examines the relationships among green technology innovation, green financing, economic growth, and environmental sustainability in G7 countries using annual data from 1990 to 2022. It uses the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag model to estimate environmental sustainability through two indicators: ecological footprint and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The CO2 emissions model indicates that green financing negatively affects emissions, highlighting the need to reduce them and promote sustainable practices. Conversely, energy consumption and real GDP per capita (RGDP) positively impact CO2 emissions. Green technology innovation also reduces CO2 emissions, but its short-term effects may be limited owing to initial energy consumption and regulatory challenges. The ecological footprint model demonstrates that, in the long term, green technology innovation helps lower the ecological footprints of G7 countries by promoting infrastructure development and reducing resource consumption. However, short-term constraints and high initial costs hinder this progress. Green financing is essential for achieving long-term sustainability. Energy consumption positively influences the ecological footprint, while short-term RGDP growth increases it. However, long-term RGDP may decline owing to sustainability policies, technological advancements, and effective environmental legislation. These findings underscore the importance of balanced policies that prioritise green finance in the short-term to mitigate environmental impacts while fostering long-term investments in green technology innovation. Additionally, enhancing international cooperation and aligning investments with green objectives are crucial for achieving sustainable prosperity and minimising environmental harm.

This study examines the impact of the Khartoum Stock Exchange market performance on economic growth in Sudan from Q1 1995 to Q4 2018. The data were collected from the Central Bank of Sudan (CBS) and Khartoum Stock Exchange (KSE). The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test was applied to estimate the impact of the Khartoum Stock Exchange market performance on economic growth. The results show that the Khartoum Stock Exchange market performance has a limited impact on economic growth. The results of the ARDL test reveal that the speed of adjustment towards long-run equilibrium after a short-term shock, which confirms the stability of Sudanese economic system through stock market performance, equals 24% only. Although market capitalization has a positive and significant impact on economic growth in the long term, the turnover ratio and stocks traded value showed insignificant negative impacts on economic growth. We recommend that suitable investment policies should be developed by policy makers for the Sudanese economy to allow the Khartoum securities market to attract foreign investors and encourage local investors in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the stock market, thus, leading to a boost in securities exchanges as well as economic growth.

This study examined the asymmetric impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock market return volatility. The data included daily closing prices of the GCC stock market from the day of the acknowledgment of the first case of COVID-19 in each country to March 6, 2021. In addition, the study employed generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) family models. According to the Akaike information criterion, GARCH and exponential GARCH (EGARCH) were the most accurate models. The findings of the GARCH model indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the GCC stock markets. The EGARCH model also confirmed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the GCC stock markets, confirming that the COVID-19 negatively affected GCC stock market returns. The value of the persistence of this volatility continued over a long period. This study has potential implications for investors and policymakers in diversifying investment portfolios and adopting strategies to maintain investor confidence during such crises. Moreover, mechanisms must be developed for reducing risks in financial markets in times of crisis, and central banks should take financial measures to mitigate risks to capital markets. AcknowledgmentsThis achievement was made with the aid of my family’s support, thank you all.

Background: Energy production plays a major role in the Saudi Arabian economy, but energy production can lead to an increase in environmental pollution. Objectives: This study investigated the impact of energy production and trade openness on Saudi Arabia’s economic growth and environmental pollution using annual data from 1970 to 2020. Methods/Approach: The fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) methods were employed to develop two models, including an economic growth model and an environmental Sustainability or pollution model. Results: The results of the two tests ensured that both expanding trade openness and increasing energy production led to faster economic growth. Nevertheless, the expansion of trade openness and energy production also led to environmental pollution; hence, the increase in energy production did not support sustainable development. Conclusions: Thus, policymakers should develop a green economy strategy to reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase renewable energy in energy production to reduce environmental pollution. Moreover, the Saudi Arabian government should highly promote investment in renewable energy production through trade openness.